Brown's bail application withdrawn

Cape Town - Former Fidentia chief executive J Arthur Brown's lawyers on Thursday withdrew his urgent bail application in the Western Cape High Court, Eyewitness News reported.

The convicted fraudster's lawyers John Louw and Mark Filton withdrew the application as the court did not have the jurisdiction to deal with the matter because Brown was sentenced by a superior court.

Brown was convicted on two fraud charges relating to his handling of investments for the Transport Education and Training Authority and the Mantadia Asset Trust Company between 2002 and 2006.

According to the report, Judge Thandazwa Ndita said it did not take a rocket scientist or someone with a master’s degree to know that the Supreme Court of Appeal's (SCA) ruling was binding on the High Court.

Brown was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on each of two fraud charges in the SCA in December. The sentences would run concurrently.

This came after the National Prosecuting Authority appealed the R150 000 fine (R75 000 for each fraud charge) and suspended jail term handed down by the Western Cape High Court last May.